That you can be "engrossed in solving a problem" is a luxury. One that I enjoyed when I was responsible only to myself. Once my wife and daughter entered my life, it was gone. And even before, from time to time, I had to make space for other obligations that came before my interest/work.
The problems to solve still interest me, but changing diapers or getting something from the supermarket for my daugher before it closes has become important enough that may they to "disrupt"[1] my life anytime.
[1] in quotes, because I would not want to live without these "disruptions" anymore. The accomplishment of calming my baby daughter in a few seconds dwarves any of the hacks people still know me for.
That is a good observation. I am the primary care-giver for a sick spouse, so I have also seen the luxury of time spent on programming diminish.
I am glad you pointed this out. Now that I am older, and perhaps wiser, I can look back at some of the unhealthy attitudes that I had about co-workers who had to balance the much more important demands of life against completing a certain feature or getting a demo ready by a certain date.
When I look at my younger self, I can see how this attitude can lead to ageism and the lack of respect and support some employees see in organizations that only value how much code you can crank out.
The problems to solve still interest me, but changing diapers or getting something from the supermarket for my daugher before it closes has become important enough that may they to "disrupt"[1] my life anytime.
[1] in quotes, because I would not want to live without these "disruptions" anymore. The accomplishment of calming my baby daughter in a few seconds dwarves any of the hacks people still know me for.